BMW has unveiled a unique one-off M3 inspired by the world-famous Oktoberfest beer festival, which opens tomorrow in Munich.
Covered in a ‘Münchner Wirte’ livery, which harks back to that of the legendary BMW M1 Procar of the early 80s, the M3 features a Bavarian-style façade painting with depictions of Munich landmarks.
BMW enlisted the help of Walter Maurer, the designer who hand-painted the original design for the M1 Procar back in 1981, to bring it back to life for the current M3 model.
He said: “I hatched the plan to turn this very special artwork into reality in 1981, together with my good friends and long-established Munich restaurateurs Putzi Holenia and Karl Heckl, and the then head of the BMW press department, Dirk Henning Strassl.
“Although the two cars are very different, it was surprisingly straightforward to carry over the design from the two-door BMW M1 racer to the four-door BMW M3.”
Despite a 34-year gap between the two cars, both have more in common than just the paintjobs, with each powered by a six-cylinder in-line engine with rear-wheel drive.
The M1 Procar generated 464bhp, with a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds, while the new M3 has a maximum output of 425bhp but with a 0-62mph of just 4.1 seconds.
BMW’s exclusive Münchner Wirte-liveried M3 will be on display at the BMW Welt Museum in Munich throughout Oktoberfest this year, which runs from tomorrow until 4th October.